This website has obtained a copy of what is repeatedly described as ‘Draft Agreement Text’ between the DUP and Sinn Fein. The document habitually references “the parties…”. It is the draft paper that gave rise to hopes of a breakthrough deal on the weekend beginning Friday February 9th. It confirms many of the details…

The failure to secure an agreement that would revive the power-sharing executive at Stormont was, if a huge disappointment, hardly a massive surprise. There had been much public scepticism that the DUP and Sinn Féin could overcome the divisions that have led to over a year of political deadlock. It would appear, however, that the…

It is the bluntest of comments – a political quote delivered without frills; a five-word Stormont obituary to fit the here and now. The words are part of the fallout from a tortuous negotiation that some believe got very close to a deal a week or so ago. A week is a long…

Let’s start by setting aside, for now, some of the commentary of the past couple of days. The description by the Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald of a “draft agreement” within the negotiations. DUP leader Arlene Foster’s assertion in a Sky News interview with David Blevins that there was never any-power-sharing deal…

The ‘Draft Agreement’ document Mary Lou McDonald held in her hand on Thursday at her press conference was sent to Sinn Féin by the DUP. That document arrived with Sinn Féin late on Friday night February 9, and it included a self contained ‘Irish Language Act.’ That draft agreement was the culmination of…

There is an awful lot of detail for such a misunderstanding to have occurred. A “draft agreement” in Sinn Fein’s words including separate Irish Language, Ulster Scots and Respecting Language and Diversity Acts. Yet, in an interview with Sky News on Thursday, the DUP leader offers a completely different version of events. …

The hegemony of a dwindling unionism was based solely on the claim that they would “stand firm in the face of nationalist encroachment”. They have done such a good job of selling the Irish language bogeyman to their base that they have hamstrung themselves in relation to being able to cut the deal which they…

Fact: an ‘accommodation,’ ‘deal’ had been reached on Friday night between the DUP and Sinn Fein. The British and Irish governments genuinely believed a structure had been worked out by Sinn Fein and the DUP as a basis for the restoration of an Executive and Assembly. The key DUP/Sinn Fein negotiators I am advised,…

It is what happens when you try to shape an agreement in a performance of political, legislative and presentational gymnastics. Too many twists and turns in the word play and then the fall. After months of talking, there are two very different interpretations of a key element of this negotiation. DUP leader Arlene Foster…

I wonder what Theresa May and Leo Varadkar really think – think about the time they spent at Stormont on Monday. Was it well spent or wasted? Were they here expecting a deal or was it about trying to get the two big parties over the line after a marathon negotiation – one…

Exactly one year ago, MLAs from multiple parties were due to launch an equal marriage Private Member’s Bill. The MLAs had been meeting for months, usually in Steven Agnew’s office in Parliament Buildings, and included representatives or had support from Sinn Féin, SDLP, UUP, Alliance, Green Party and People Before Profit, working closely with…

In recent days two parties that did not exist at the time, were out bidding each other, claiming to be inheritors of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association. It would appear that the Republican Clubs are to be written out of history by those who by their sectarianism and or violence led to the…

2018 marks the 50th centenary of the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland, and like most rights movements in history the demands were based upon evidence of unfair treatment. In Northern Ireland the evidence was the unfair allocation of housing against catholic families, the gerrymandering which saw councils with nationalist majority populations dominated…

The question above is the judgement call for both the DUP and Sinn Fein. Have they enough to take this long negotiation over the line, to end the standoff and to restore the political institutions? Read the speech by the new Sinn Fein Vice President Michelle O’Neill from Saturday and this line in…

That advice late on Thursday night was the first guidance to reach me​ that the Stormont negotiation is in a better place. Does that mean a done deal? The guidance/advice stops short of that. There is still the talk of “significant gaps” but also a view that perhaps more progress has been made than is…

Monday’s all-party meeting at Stormont did not go well. It did not deliver any wider understanding of this latest phase of the talks – and left the SDLP, Ulster Unionists and Alliance with unanswered questions on the gaps that divide the DUP and Sinn Fein; gaps, which on Thursday, were still being described…

Play the political record from last year and no one would notice any difference. The two-party talks continue at Stormont. Any description of all-party negotiations is to put it bluntly – ‘bolloxology’. Today was meant to be a different day. There may have been more people in the room for around an hour on…

On the Shankill Road on Thursday evening Chief Constable George Hamilton challenged loyalists. The church hall at St Michael’s was packed for this 4 Corners Festival event organised alongside the Greater Shankill Partnership. Among the audience were senior figures in the UVF, UDA and Red Hand Commando; and, in this, the year of…

The re- writing of history has been going on for quite some time but I have to say that Declan Kearney’s article on eamonnmallie.com entitled “Northern Nationalism has Politically Remobilised” is the most blatant attempt yet. Kearney’s version of the Civil Rights Movement bears no resemblance to the actual movement in which I,…